Kellybrew began his journey at 320 pounds after spending 10 months dieting and exercising Kellybrew shed 118 pounds. Kelly brew said he hoped his drastic transformation would help inspire others who struggle with obesity. (THE COURIER / submitted)

When Devin Kellybrew walked into the living room on Nov. 19, 2010, there was something wrong with his mother.

“She was sitting in the living room hitting herself in the chest,” Kellybrew said. “She told me it was bad indigestion.”

But it wasn’t indigestion. Without knowing any better, Kellybrew left to take his kids to school. When he returned his mother asked him to take her to the hospital. That’s when he knew something was seriously wrong.

“My mom never goes to the hospital,” he said. “If she cut her finger off, she’d try to sew it back on herself.”

Later that day, he found himself standing over his mother as she lay in a hospital bed. She had 80 percent blockage in her heart. The doctors told him they were going to have to operate to save her life.

“A helicopter couldn’t land,” he said.

“It was too foggy. We had to wait on the ambulance and hope that she didn’t die on the way there.”

It was in that moment that Kellybrew thought of his two little boys, Cortez Pillow and Kahlil Kellybrew.

“Looking at my mother in the hospital bed, I told myself that I was fixing to change,” he said.

Kellybrew weighed in at 320 pounds and had spent his life eating the same foods and living the same lifestyle that landed his mother in a hospital bed.

“It was an eye opener for me. I told myself I can’t be like this. I can’t be laying in a hospital bed with my sons looking at me like this.”

He went cold turkey. His first meal after that was at Wendy’s, where he ate a grilled chicken sandwich – without the bun. For the next month he only ate what his mother ate.

He stuck to the same hospital meals she had to eat as she was being nursed back to health. From Nov. 19 to Jan. 1 he lost 20 pounds. That was only the beginning.

“That was just eating healthy. When you’re of size, you lose weight faster,” he said. “I ate what she ate. I did that to support her. I could never make her eat like she was supposed to eat, but it was key that I support her.”

Kellybrew had previously bought the work out program p90x in 2007. It wasn’t until 2011 he first popped the DVDs in and performed the exercises to completion. Slowly, his body began to change.

“When I started doing p90x, the chest and back video they have on there has you do a variety of push ups. They’re all hard. They’re is nothing easy about it. But the trainer tells you to modify them and the reps if you can’t do it the way they do it. I remember having to do them on my knees.”

When he first began the program he could do 50 push-ups in one 45 minute workout. Now, after 10 months, Kellybrew can pump out 400 push ups during that same workout.

“Not to mention 200 more later in the day if I’m bored,” he said.

Kellybrew set a goal of reaching 205 pounds, but through eating right and daily exercise he surpassed his goal.

At his slimmest he dropped to 184. But Kellybrew insists the results started in the kitchen — not the gym.

“Everything goes back to the kitchen,” Kellybrew insisted. “The thing about the food is it’s about understanding the carbs, proteins and the fats. It’s about knowing the science of what you take in that will get you the results you want.”

Kellybrew swears by pre-planned meals. Eating on the fly, he says, leads to bad choices.

Especially in the on-the-go lifestyle to which most Americans are accustomed.

“I eat the same thing every day to tell the honest truth. A lot of people like variety, but variety can be confusing when you’re on the go.”

Kellybrew hopes his success can be an inspiration for those looking to begin their own weight-loss journey.

To that end, he came up with a phrase that embodies what he believes led to his 118-pound transformation: Failure is not an option, determination is key.

“You have to have determination to do something,” he said. “Determination is a decision. Instead of looking for motivation, just do it. You don’t need a specific song to work out. You don’t need a friend to motivate you. You don’t that one person to call you and remind you. You just have to have it in your head to do it. It’s on you and no one else.”

It comes as no surprise that is the slogan he has rallied behind. According to him, he didn’t have a lot of support in the early days.

“God helped me get here,” he explained. “I didn’t have anyone support me. It was just me and God. Period. I didn’t hear ‘Devin, you’re doing a good job.’ None of that. It was just determination and my praying to God that did it.”

In fact, faith is one of the primary things he feels people lack when they set out to change their lives.

“I wouldn’t be sitting here with this transformation if it weren’t for God. I pray for the strength to finish my workouts and to stay true to my food. Obesity is one of the biggest killers in the world. You need strength to do that. God is a perfect person to talk to about that. All my glory and praise to Him because I feel like my life was saved by changing my lifestyle.”

Kellybrew offers encouragement and inspiration through his Facebook page, which he encourages anyone to follow.